“We achieved an important objective by finishing fourth, but the truth is we believed in a Champions League spot,” confessed Pasqual on Mediaset Premium.

“It was disappointing to see the dream vanish like that. There are some regrets, especially when you see Milan were gifted a penalty.”

The spot-kick for a Dias Felipe shirt tug on Mario Balotelli was certainly soft, especially as MassimoAmbrosini had escaped punishment for a similar earlier challenge.

“There are no words,” added director Pradè. “On the one hand there is great joy, but on the other we deserved more than this. We believed and compliments to Siena for pushing it all the way.

“It is an unfair result, but we ought to be happy. It won’t be easy to repeat a season like this.”

Commenting on the Milan penalty incident, Pradè was scathing.

“We are impotent when faced with these situations, as there is nothing we can do. We went from euphoria to depression tonight, but I can also say that I expected this to happen. The epilogue had already been written.”

Gonzalo Rodriguez took to Twitter and wrote: “If I say what I really think, then I won’t be allowed to play in Italy anymore.”